Twenty five U.S. soldiers killed this week in Iraq

Twenty five U.S. troops have died this week in separate incidents in war-torn Iraq.

Five U.S. Marines, most in their early 20s, were killed in a roadside blast in western Iraq Thursday.

The attack came in the Anbar province where 17 Iraqis had been blindfolded and executed. Their bodies were found on Friday.

U.S. officials said the Marines killed were engaged in combat operations in Haqlaniya.

They were Lance Cpl. Dustin V. Birch, 22, of Saint Anthony, Idaho, Lance Cpl. Daniel Chavez, 20, of Seattle, Wash., Lance Cpl. Thomas O. Keeling, 23, of Strongsville, Ohio, Lance Cpl. Devon P. Seymour, 21, of St. Louisville, Ohio, and Cpl. Brad D. Squires, 26, of Middleburg Heights, Ohio.

Keeling, Seymour, and Squires were assigned to Marine Forces Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Akron, Ohio.

Birch was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve’s 4th Tank Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Boise, Idaho. Chavez was assigned to 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Also losing his life Thursday was Staff Sgt. Mark O. Edwards, 40, of Unicoi, Tenn., who died at his forward operating base near Tuz from a non-combat related cause. Edward’s death is the subject of an investigation.

According to Multinational Force Iraq officials Friday., a Marine assigned to 2nd Force Service Support Group, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), died in a vehicle accident near the town of Hit on Wednesday.

1st Lt. Michael J. Fasnacht, 25, of Columbus, Ga., was also killed Wednesday in Tikrit when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Bradley Fighting Vehicle.

Pfc. Douglas E. Kashmer, 27, of Sharon, Pa., died Wednesday in Nippur when the wrecker in which he was a passenger was involved in a non-combat related rollover.

Sgt. Roberto Arizola, Jr., 31, of Laredo, Texas, was killed Wednesday in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV.

Two other soldiers were killed in Tikrit Wednesday after an explosion of unknown origin occurred near their location. They were Capt. Phillip T. Esposito, 30, of Suffern, N.Y., and 1st Lt. Louis E. Allen, 34, of Milford, Pa.

Lance Cpl. Marc L. Tucker, 24, of Pontotoc, Miss., was also killed Wednesday as a result of a non-hostile vehicle accident in Asr Uranium, Iraq.

Multinational Corps Iraq meantime have opened a criminal investigation into two Task Force Liberty soldiers’ deaths Tuesday at Forward Operating Base Danger, near Tikrit, officials in Iraq reported Friday.

Capt. Phillip T. Esposito and 1st Lt. Louis E. Allen were killed in what was thought to be an indirect-fire attack. Both officers were assigned to Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 42nd Infantry Division, New York Army National Guard. Esposito was company commander; Allen served as a company operations officer.

Military police and responders at first indicated that a mortar round had struck the window on the building where the two officers were located. However, explosive ordnance personnel determined the blast pattern at the scene was inconsistent with a mortar attack after further examination.

Lt. Col. Terrence K. Crowe, 44, of New York, N.Y., was killed Tuesday in Tal Afar when his unit was attacked by enemy forces using rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire.

Also Tuesday Spc. Eric T. Burri, 21, of Wyoming, Mich., died in Baghdad, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV.

On Monday two soldiers were killed as a result of an explosion while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Fallujah, Iraq. They were Lance Cpl. Robert T. Mininger, 21, of Sellersville, Pa., and Lance Cpl. Jonathan L. Smith, 22, of Eva, Ala.,

Also Monday Spc. Brian M. Romines, 20, of Simpson, Ill., died in Baghdad, where an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV, while Col. Theodore S. Westhusing, 44, of Dallas, Texas, died in Baghdad, from non-combat related injuries.

On Sunday three soldiers died in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near their military vehicle. They were Staff Sgt. Justin L. Vasquez, 26, of Manzanola, Colo., Spc. Eric J. Poelman, 21, of Racine, Wis., and Pfc. Brian S. Ulbrich, 23, of Chapmanville, W. Va.

Also Sunday Spc. Carrie L. French, 19, of Caldwell, Idaho, died in Kirkuk when an improvised explosive device hit the front of her convoy vehicle and detonated.

Meanwhile, the BBC is reporting police colonels were killed in drive-by shootings in the cities of Kirkuk and Basra on Friday.

Iraqi security forces also came under attack in other parts of the country.

Police in the northern city of Kirkuk said Colonel Rahim Uthman, head of the local anti-terrorist department, had been killed on Thursday.

He and his assistant Major Ghanim Jihad were shot dead from a blue BMW, they said.

And on Friday in the southern city of Basra, the commander of the local police academy was shot dead.

Three or four gunmen in a car swerved in front of Colonel Abdelkarim Daraji’s vehicle and opened fire, police said. His brother also died in the attack, the BBC report added.

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